Sherlock Holmes is a franchise that has alot of references , nods and homages to it due to the fact that the character has been going around now sine eighteen hundreds. With oddly enough one of the many homages coming in Worzel Gummidge Down Under and well then as a Worzel Gummidge lover I thought that now was the absolutely right tie to check out another episode from this forgotten sequel series and so then join me as I review the episode that sees Worzel Gummidge turn detective with the episode in question being called simply just "Elementary, My Dear Worty" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when The Crowman's prized turnip goes missing Worzel Gummidge and his friend Worty take it upon themselves to turn detective and find the turnip before The Crowman notices that it's missing. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad but as with alot of things in this series of Worzel Gummidge Down Under this episodes plot wasn't al that good either as while it was a simple plot something that does usually work well for Worzel Gummidge here it oddly holds it back as the plot of this episode is really weak and the plot isn't really strong enough to support an entire episode of this show and as a result of that is the fact that a plot that's a little bit more complicated really would have worked alot better even more so when you take into account that this episode does have mystery to it with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Jon Pertwee as Worzel Gummidge , Olivia Ihimaera-Smiler as Manu and Jonathan Marks as Mickey. Also starring in this episode is Ian Mune as Worty Yam , William Kircher as 2nd Scarecrow , Danny Mulheron as Blighty Tater , Ann Pacey as A Woman , Bruce Phillips as The Crowman , Duncan Smith as 3rd Scarecrow , William Walker as 1st Scarecrow and David Weatherley as Bulbous Cauliflower.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. As this show as a whole has always had some really good acting in it but at the same time tho the acting in this episode quite clearly isn't the show at it's best as alot of this episodes cast just come across as being lost unsure what kind of performance to give when it's should have been this episodes director and the shows producer Grahame J. McLean quite clearly doesn't know how to get a good performance out of this cast something that regular director James Hill knew how to do with his eyes shut and while the acting in this episode is good it could have been so much more better then what it was with the acting in this episode not really being helped by the fact the script for this episode is just so bad as it gives none of this episodes absolutely nothing to work with interms of what it is that there characters personalities are even meant to be in this episode which is something that really does harm the overall quality of the acting that's in this episode.
For an episode that's really all about the The Crowman he barely features in the episode at all with him only being in the opening and closing of the episode. Which doesn't make sense as he is a main character in this episodes plot and yet for some strange reason the makers of this episode got rid of him at the start start of the episode and have him appear at the end of the episode and that's really it when he should have been in the episode more even if it was just in a few scenes that aren't connected to the man plot of the episode heck the kids are in this episode more then he is and they play no part in the episodes plot and are only there for some unknown reason where as The Crowman does play a part admittedly a small part but still a part in the episodes plot and yet her's barely seen in the episode at all which makes no sense either from a story telling point of view nor form a logic and character point of view as this character wouldn't leave Worzel Gummidge to guard all of his most valuable things he'd either take them with him or guard them himself.
As a mystery the actual mystery in this episode isn't that good but that's kind of the point and it's something that's fitting for the character of Worzel Gummidge. As Worzel himself isn't the sharpest tool in the shed and wouldn't take that much into account and as a result of that does only see things in black and white much like how a child does and while the mystery itself does come as being really bad as there are clues given to how took the turnip in the first place it is fun seeing the Worzel Gummidge team take on a Sherlock Holmes type of a character but do it in a way that's fitting for not only this show but also for Worzel Gummidge as a whole as Jon Pertwee does don a Sherlock Holmes type of costume complete with deerstalker hat and pipe but at the same time tho given that there is a mystery in this episode ad it's such a key part of the episode there should have been alot more effort put into the mystery then not even doing the bare bones as that it is something does hurt the episode by quite a bit as nobody wants to a show that has a bad mystery in it.
For some strange reason the makers of this show chose to have the kids act out of character and not like how they've been written as before in previous episodes. As in previous the kids in this show while yes they have been known to be a pair of troublemakers would never get in the way of Worzel from doing something even more so when he outright says that he's trying to do something and find something for The Crowman and yet for some strange reason the kids in this episode choose to play several jokes on Worzel and Worty all of which keep them for achieving there goal and all it does all it does is make the kids not only look like bad characters but it also makes them look like bad friends to Worzel as they know that finding the turnip is important to him as it's something that's important to The Crowman and as as result of that is the fact that they would go out of there way to help Worzel and Worty and not go out of there to hinder them as we've seen in the first series of this show that they would be more then willing to help both Worzel and The Crowman and yet for some strange reason here they choose to cause them trouble and play practical jokes on them which s something that doesn't work for these characters in this episode.
For some strange reason this series of Worzel Gummidge Down Under really did reduce Aunt Sally's role in the show. With her not even being mentioned in this episode which in a way does make sense as there's no way to include her character in a way that makes sense to either the plot of the episode nor the character but at the same time given that she was a main character in this show she could have at least appeared more in a supporting like maybe she gives Worzel and Worty a clue as to who stole the turnip in the first place and that's really it yes it would have been a small role in the grand scheme of things but given that the character isn't bound to always torturing Worzel by always getting rid of the character that's better for him like she was in the original show she really could have appeared in this episode and it still would have made sense and it's still something that would have worked for this character but at the same time it would have been stretch to be find away to include this character in a story that really doesn't need to her in it in anyway whatsoever.
Now then while I cannot for the absolutely life of me remember whatever this episodes grand total running time was I do know that this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of roughly twenty five minuets. With that being pretty much the bogstandard running time for this show to have and to this episodes it really does have just the right amount of plot to really cover that amount of running time but at the same time tho the episode really could have been a little bit longer as the ending and big reveal that Bulbous Cauliflower took the turnip because The Crowman asked him to bring it to him really does come out of nowhere as it's something that really isn't built up really well in the final cut of the episode and it's something that really should have been built up to because as things stand with the episodes current running time it does come out nowhere and it's something that could have been fixed if The Crowman was in the episodes more as we the audience could have seen him asking Bulbous Cauliflower to do something for him but not reveal what it is and yet because of the fact that the episode isn't that long it means that the episode can't be as good as it was but I will admit that this episode really does have some really pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a comedy that means that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. With the episode having some really cute and funny jokes with even the idea of Worzel Gummidge dressing up like Sherlock Holmes and even doing kind of Sherlock Holmes type of voice is a good and funny idea and to this episodes credit it's the comedy in this episode that really does save this episode from being really unwatchable as the episode does have some really funny moments in it and while yes this episodes jokes aren't going to be make every one laugh the ones that do make them laugh be it from the actual joke itself or even just the idea of the joke is more then worth it with this episode being worth watching just for seeing Worzel is this dumb character suddenly act super smart all thanks to a new head which is still a really good idea and is still a really joke in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall while this was still a really bad episode that is something that could be said for alot of this series of Worzel Gummidge Down Under as there was a dip in quality in both writing and directing something which is evident due to the fact that the original writers of Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall were no longer involved with the series for the whole of this second series and director James Hill couldn't take part in the second block of filming due to health reasons and thus couldn't travel to New Zealand to make the filming of this and other episodes and that is something that is noticeable in this episode in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 5.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . UK , Wikipedia and Google Images. With my personally preferred website that I personally preferred to use to get the images that I personally used in this very review being the wonderful Google Images since all of the images that are currently up and and featured / presented to us on Google Images are all fairly high in quality and as well as being fairly freaking high in definition.